Chay Wai Chuen
Singapore
“As a result, some enterprising businesses and grassroots people have even come up with better ideas on equipment and machines designed to suit our HDB estates, HDB rubbish chutes and our older workers, to make the equipment easier for them to handle. 3.00 pm I give this as an example.”
“Since there are so many anomalies administered by the two agencies up to now, and because so many retailers will be affected, I urge the Ministry to freeze this scheme and review the procedures and policies entirely and put up the designated land for tender to be administered by one agency.”
“Sir, I would like to ask the Minister to give more choices, in terms of compensation or alternatives and flat type allocation for those people who are affected by the Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme. Children should be, as best as possible, allowed to help pay for their parents in some of these choices that they have to choose.”
“Sir, the MUP Programme has been in place for some time and it applies to units which are 17 years and above. I would like to ask the Minister why are 40-year old flats still not upgraded.”
“Mr Chairman, there is an increase in the operating expenditure of $648 million this year for the Ministry of Defence. I would like to know what is the rationale for this increase.”
“Sir, the SAF has been involved in peacekeeping missions on several occasions, in East Timor and the Middle East, typically in the area of logistics and medical services. I wonder whether the Minister can enlighten me on what kind of role the SAF can play in this area of peacekeeping missions.”
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“Thank you, Mr Speaker, Sir, for allowing me to join in this debate. I wish to say that originally I found the Select Committee Report on Land Transportation Policy quite acceptable. But after listening to the debate this afternoon, I seem to find that Members of the Select Committee have got confused positions. Nonetheless, I would like to concentrate on the quota system for new cars and I feel it is basically a good measure. I also feel that several other important points need to be considered together with this package. Otherwise the outcome may not be what is desired as wrong signals are given in the market or as loopholes which exist in this Report may be exploited to the detriment of all concerned. Our policy on cars in land transport must give a manifestly clear signal to the market that the car must be treated as a consumption good and not as an investment good. Just now, the Member for Whampoa, Dr Augustine Tan, mentioned that the consideration of a car as an investment good is purely because of the rise in the value of the Yen and the Mark. I do not think so. I think it is inherent in the PARF policy that the car has a certain element of investment good in our road transport scheme. Our policies must be geared to make it extremely unwise and costly to purchase a car for investment consideration and that all such purchases should be only for consumption, as it should be. Unless this aim is clearly manifested, perceived and received by all, there can be all sorts of distortions to efficiency by wrong measures. The overall objective of our land transport policy will be lost in the morass of tariffs, duties, preferential discounts, road tax, ownership cost, usage cost measures and now licence bids.”
“The sacred and onerous duty of selecting the nominated Members of Parliament should be left to the Special Select Committee of Parliament as presently proposed. We should not allow interest groups to be specially provided by delegating the power of selection to them. This runs against the grain of constitutional right. If Parliament can amend the Constitution, if Parliament can examine public accounts and estimates, if Parliament can be trusted to approve all Government's current and capital spending each year, if it fully accounts itself to the people by periodic elections, should not the task of selection of the non-elected Members of Parliament be placed within itself by the Special Select Committee of Parliament? The people selected must be able to contribute freely to the discussion and the evaluation of policies, and informing public debate, by their expertise and experience. Otherwise, this nominated MP institution will fail and the Government will be the laughing stock, and Parliament will have to answer for it. Finally, Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the amendment. Dr Lee Siew-Choh (Non-Constituency Member): May I be allowed a few words of clarification, Sir?”
“If we fairly assume that 39% or 38% of the electorate who voted against the PAP are distributed normally, it can be said, fairly confidently, that one-third of these voters would be prepared to vote for the PAP, but for the reason that they want an alternative view in Parliament, a critical alternative view that can bring public debate to a non-partisan perhaps consensus-seeking level. While the non-elected Members of Parliament do not represent the 38%, their critical alternative views can be shared by a significant portion of the 38%. If the Party cannot win them during the elections, the Government must win over their hearts during the period of rule. It would be foolhardy and dangerous for the Government to carry on to govern for too long without letting the alternative view be articulated and expressed in the highest institution by the people who are not partisanly involved and above the fray, so to speak. We must take the lid off the crucible. As our country gets more economically developed and wealthy, and as our population acquires greater depth of talent and experience with age, we must also search for new political structures and institutions for the country. Non-elected Members of Parliament can be a good bridgehead for the political tutelage of the electorate towards the acceptance of a possible Upper House in the future. I urge the Government to seriously consider this prospect. Nominated MPs can be the first stepping stone towards this. Naturally, this being a Government proposal, there will be criticism that the nominated non-elected Members of Parliament are going to be the mouthpiece of the Government. I really see no purpose in it. I believe the test of the pudding is in the eating of it.”
“In Singapore, the predominance of the People's Action Party in the political system and in Parliament was also an accident of history not caused nor sought by the leaders of the Party. In fact, any student of political history will know that they were battling for their survival when it happened in 1966. It was caused by the pull out of Parliament by the Barisan Socialis in 1966 when they had 13 Members in Parliament. They wanted to take the struggle to the streets. Naturally, the PAP exploited the ground and filled up the seats by elections, and has never looked back ever since. Mr Speaker, Sir, I dare say the man who is responsible for the predominance of the PAP in the political system today in Singapore is, by a strange twist of events, sitting here in Parliament - thanks to the PAP's new leaders' political innovation. He is the hon. Non-Constituency Member himself. For pulling the Opposition out of Parliament, the PAP has a lot to thank him. For that, the Singapore electorate never forgave him. Since the PAP Government has the burden of predominance thrust on it, caused by the grand strategic error of the Opposition under Dr Lee, it is the duty of the PAP to find new political institutions and innovations to ensure that alternative views are ventilated and heard, and due weight given to them in the consideration of policies. Otherwise, the new PAP leaders will unwittingly play into Dr Lee's original hand - to let the struggle be driven out of Parliament and into the streets. This will happen if no avenues are found to give more participation and expression at the highest level, in the absence of a credible Opposition. Over the last two elections, we have seen about 38% of the voters vote for the Opposition.”
“It does not mean that because we are going to have nominated non-elected Members of Parliament that Parliament will be somehow downgraded. To start with, even the Speaker of this House does not have to be a Member of Parliament as provided in the Constitution. And historically, we have had at least three Speakers who were not elected Members of Parliament - Sir George Oehlers, Mr A P Rajah and Mr Punch Coomarasamy. They had performed their onerous duty to this House with distinction, as the head of our Parliament. I do not think that Parliament was worse off because of their non-elected status. If anything, I believe Parliament and the nation was enriched by their presence. More recently, we have had the pleasure of the presence of the Non-Constituency Member of Parliament. I am sure Parliament, as a house of representatives and as a legislative body, was not diminished by the presence of the non-elected Non-Constituency Member. Singapore must examine the relevance and the appropriateness of institutions for our country not just from the perspective of forms and structures, in comparison with other countries. These forms and structures of other Parliaments evolved through their special and unique historical experience. Similarly, ours must evolve through our own unique path. We must be bold enough to try new institutional forms while retaining the essence of democratic representative government. Democratic representative government institutions too must be subject to the changes in forms and structures given the accelerating changes in a technotronic world and we must find new ways of supporting them.”
“Who speaks for the growing intelligentsia who feel isolated because they are uncomfortable with populistic and partisan perspectives? Their connection and interaction of this intelligentsia in work and play is not just with Singapore or the constituency they reside in. Their connection and interaction is with the modern-day world. If I may say so, they are part of the world's Fifth Estate. They do not need to vote for the PAP nor the Opposition. They vote with their hands on the terminal buttons every day. They can also vote with their feet. The PAP, which claims to represent all sections of Singapore, cannot claim to be non-partisan. PAP MPs are constrained by the Whip. They can speak against the Government on an issue but they cannot vote against the Government because they are constrained by the Whip. They are also constrained by the need for popular support in order to carry the ground - to ensure the Party and themselves stay in power. Hence, while all PAP MPs can speak critically and do so unashamedly and unafraid, the extent they can do so is limited by their responsibility and their accountability. They can be popular and critical. But they cannot be naive. Nor do the electorate expect them to be. Some people have argued that Members who speak in this House must have a mandate from the people, must be elected so to speak. This is not true, and not necessary. Such people confuse representative government which must have a popular and periodic mandate from the people, with the peculiar institutions of Parliament. The Mother of Parliament has hereditary Members in the Upper House which would be revolting to proponents of democratic populistic representation. Many parliaments have nominated Members.”
“The difference is that the opposition in Britain has the credibility to form an alternative government. In Singapore, it does not. Advocates of parliamentary reform in proportional representation do not make headway because of the very obvious need for strong government in the Westminster Cabinet style of government for potentially fractious society as in Britain and for the obvious reason that the governing party always stands to gain in this system. Applied in the context of Singapore, it would be even more weakening due to the pluralistic pulls of our society. How then do we try to ensure that the debate in Parliament will have the diversity of views and the variety of experience and expertise that territorial representation, ie, representation by constituency and the first-past-the-post system will not ensure? I would urge Members to bear in mind that territorial representation was an outgrowth of the special circumstances in British local administration system from as far back as the Middle Ages. Different societies face different problems at different times. But all forward looking successful societies must find their own solutions to the different needs and fill the different gaps of institutional needs as perceived by their leaders. This requirement is all the more necessary in an era of accelerating changes brought about by telecommunication and information technologies. In Singapore, by the accident of history and by the political will of the Party's first generation leaders, the PAP is closely identified with the workers by the so-called symbiotic relationship. There are many Members of Parliament who speak up for the workers, including the Opposition. Who speaks for the employers?”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to speak in support of this constitutional amendment to provide for non-elected Members to be in this House. In doing so, I am conscious of the concern expressed by my parliamentary colleagues. Yet I feel confident that through this innovation, our legislative body will represent a more complete body of views and I think this can contribute significantly to our longer term political stability. Before I dwell into the whys and the wherefores, I wish to point out that nominated Members of Parliament are not a deviation from democratic representative government or parliamentary government. For example, in many parliaments which are bicameral which have Lower and Upper Houses, non-elected Members have been a feature of many of such Upper Houses of Parliament. In the mother of Parliament in Britain, many seats in the House of Lords are hereditary and not elected and many peerages are nominated by the Prime Minister. Why do we need non-elected Nominated Members of Parliament when there are already elected ones and non-elected Non-Constituency ones (the NCMPs)? I submit that the most important reason is to find new structures within our existing first-past-the-post system of electoral voting to supplement the body of representation such as found in the Westminster political party system as ours. A Westminster political party system is essentially confrontational or adversarial. The first-past-the-post system was essentially devised to ensure strong Cabinet government in a parliamentary "Commons". The result is that a governing political party can have predominant control of seats without necessarily a predominance of the electoral votes. This is the case of Britain as in Singapore.”
“Sir, is the Minister aware that in this area of Commonwealth Crescent, there is a lack of community space in many of these old blocks which are there at the moment?”
“Sir, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.”
“I note that the provision for the capital grant under the Development Expenditure for the Financial Year 1989 is zero under this head.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, That the sum to be allocated for Head J be reduced by $10 in respect of Code JE 1500 of the Main Estimates. First, I must thank the Minister earlier for mentioning that the Government has basically accepted the Report of the Advisory Council on the Aged. I would seek his indulgence, however, for some clarifications in certain specific areas. In spite of his earlier announcement, I would still go on with my questions. In the Report of the Advisory Council on the Aged, it was recommended that the Government should provide the following types of assistance and support to the voluntary welfare organizations in the running of the homes for the aged. First, in converting short-term leases of buildings currently occupied by voluntary homes to long-term leases of 30 years, as many of these present homes are housed in buildings which have very short leases. This would enable the private organizations to plan better in the services for the aged. Secondly, in providing purpose-built homes if conversions of such leases are not possible. Thirdly, it was recommended that the Goverment bear the capital and the recurrent cost of voluntary homes on a cost sharing basis with the voluntary welfare organization or the Community Chest of Singapore. I would like to find out,firstly, whether the Minister plansto adopt this proposal of helping the private volunteer welfare organizations obtain the extended leases for their buildings, bearing in mind that this will greatly relieve the load on the Government. Secondly, I would like to find out whether the Ministry would help defray the capital cost and the recurrent cost as well, as recommended.”
“In effecting a value-added-tax or a general sales tax, competitiveness of our exports should not be eroded. Also it should not be taxed such that the competitiveness of our foreign trade sector is affected. Such an outcome can only be achieved by not levying a value-added-tax in our exports while imports should be subject to a VAT at a given exchange rate. Thirdly, the Government should not rush the scheme with its characteristic efficiency. It should take its time bearing full view of the possibility of a general rise in prices and the differential impact which this tax will have on different sectors of the economy and the population at different times. It would require considerable political skill of the political leadership to phase it in.”
“The Minister has mentioned of the need to put in place a regime of consumption tax in the next few years so as to widen our tax revenue sources. The concern springs from the need to reduce direct taxes to remain internationally competitive and to raise expenditures substantially on health and other social services. In principle, the introduction of the consumption tax must be supported. For the long-term incentive for the private sector, the consumption tax is more appropriate than the direct tax on income because it taxes those who use up economic resources in consumption rather than on those who work hard to produce goods and services to generate income. In general, it provides a greater incentive to save because for a given rate of tax, the rate of return for the saver on his reduced consumption is higher than the case when the saver is taxed on income, when evaluated as a rate of return on postponed consumption. However, in introducing the consumption tax, the Government should be careful about three points. Firstly, it should not be too regressive so that in applying a given tax rate on goods and services it weighs unequally on the rich and the poor. The Government can take care of this by setting rates and limits wisely. For example, in applying a tax on utilities on $40 it should consider what is the utility charge for the average household income at the 25th percentile. This is to validate 1DPM's policy of raising the standard of living of the bottom 25% of the population. Certain basic goods and services needed by the poor, who are usually unable to save, should not be taxed or taxed very lightly. Secondly, in implementing the consumption tax, the Government should consider the impact on prices.”
“A Board of Investment to regulate the investment injection into the economy, both public and private, may be appropriate at this stage. Such a board may even evaluate and decide on the suitability of certain investments based on a set of criteria, from time to time updated by the Government in consultation with the private sector, responding to changing circumstances and the shifting balance of international trade and competition. This regulatory control will mean an even, and possibly, though not necessarily lower growth, more nearer to the 4-6% long-term sustainable target of the Government. It will also put into the economy certain stabilizers so that we will not always be worrying about whether the economic growth will hit 10% with all the distortions and expectations caused to the economy on account of the labour shortfall. It is more meaningful at this stage of our economic growth to aim at stable growth rather than high growth because we have already achieved full employment with more than a sufficient buffer. To aim at stable growth rate makes it easier to plan and easier to translate our productivity effort to the labour force and to consolidate the technological content in our economic growth. However, while the preparedness to go for a lower growth is present, we should not let up our programme of restructuring. The effort to upgrade and train our own workers to be more productive and the efforts at automation and capital intensity should raise our total factor productivity. Gradually, with a lower growth rate in the GDP and raising productivity, our real growth in indigenous disposable income per capita, net of all levies, should rise faster than what is apparent in GDP per capita.”
“The Minister in his Budget has mentioned that the Government is committed to containing the growth of the public sector in spending and employment through improvements in productivity, mechanization and computerization. Perhaps this orientation of the Government to contain growth can be applied in a wider context in the overall economy. Will the Government be prepared to regulate foreign investment from overseas and evaluate the social benefits/costs of foreign investment commitment? In this evaluation, the Government must be prepared to accept a lower growth rate for the economy through forsaking, postponing or scheduling some of the investment projects so as to contain the foreign labour problem and to achieve our wider social, economic objectives in economic growth. Last year, according to the Minister, more jobs went to foreign labour than to local labour in the manufacturing sector. Raising the levy to tackle the influx of foreign workers seems to be a case of the doctor trying to cure the symptom rather than the cause of the illness. One of the major causes of the demand for foreign workers is the investment projects that come on-stream each year. The EDB is doing a fantastic job of bringing in foreign investment. Manufacturing investment totalled a record $2 billion in 1988, a large part of it is from the foreign sector. The Minister has expressed concern that we should be wary of the political and social cost of such influx and dependence on foreign workers. Perhaps it may even be necessary to regulate the flow of investment of certain value and of labour requirements. This will enable the economy to digest the labour shortfall currently experienced.”
“The reason for private sector performance in attracting foreign investment and achieving exports is due to our competitiveness, as underlined rightfully by the Minister. It is with regard to keeping Singapore internationally competitive that regulatory costs should be minimized. Our adjustments, such as employer's CPF contribution, foreign workers levy, should bear in mind this underlying dependence on international competition. The Government states that due to resource constraints, our long-term growth rate is between 4-6% based on labour entrants and productivity increase. It seems to me that unless the Government is prepared to put into practice this sensible target, we are not going to solve our long-term economic growth, labour and productivity problems. 4-6% is a very reasonable, sustainable growth rate for our economy at this stage. However, we only seem too eager to exceed it. In economics, we cannot have our cake and eat it. As our economy grows by about 10% per annum the factors which account for this growth can, among others, be attributed to investment and foreign labour. The EDB is doing a good job at attracting investment with a record investment commitment in 1988. Can the economy sustain this without drawing more foreign labour? With the foreign levy increasing and the foreign labour dependency ratio reduced, domestic wage will be forced up with no correspondence to productivity. The danger is real, therefore, that as a result of the structural rigidities and the crowding out effect, we are forced into a wage spiral with the foreign levy tail wagging the economy dog.”
“Thank you, Mr Speaker, for giving me this opportunity to speak. I rise to speak in support of the motion by the Minister for Finance. The Minister in his budget statement has nailed to rest allegations that this is a Pay-And-Pay Government. The various reliefs which he has given and the general sigh of relief from car owners (temporarily, of course) show that this is a hard-headed Government that is readily prepared to adopt appropriate and correct fiscal policies to achieve social objectives. This finally must be the test of good financial statesmanship. Yet most certainly we have not heard the last, for there is nothing more certain in life, I was told, than death and taxes. A school teacher of mine once said that one does not have a good life until one has a good death. May I add that we do not really know we have a good Government until we have good taxes. The Minister was rightfully cautious regarding 1988 in his last Budget and as it turns out the Singapore economy has done better than expected to achieve the highest growth rate in a decade. The characteristic prudence exercised by the Minister in the Budget is reflected in the deficit position of $1.6 billion in 1987 to a surplus position of $1.3 billion in 1988. This surplus position is a good break from the earlier two years of deficits in 1986 and 1987. At the same time, the proportion of Government expenditure in GDP has fallen from 32.9% in 1987 to 24.4% in 1988. In 1989, the ratio of about 24% is expected to be maintained. This robust performance of the economy is a result of significant growth performance of the private sector, a growth derived largely from record investment and strong exports.”
“It should complement our domestic economic development. We must get out of the confines of protectionist boundaries, labour constraints and comparative advantages to generate value-added for the long term survival of the city state. It is also, I believe, a strategic dimension of total defence. Mr Speaker, Sir, I support the motion.”
“This would provide an additional source of financial security for the elderly. Secondly, the HDB should consider allowing senior citizens who own private properties to sell off their properties and move into HDB flats. This would allow many elderly citizens who spend most of their life savings paying for a house or apartment and educating their children to move into smaller HDB flats and liquidate their savings in the house or the private apartment into an annuity. Thirdly, I feel that the Government should bring back to life discussion on the problem of the aged and seek consensus from the population as to what kind of policies and measures to adopt to formulate as a plan for action. Various measures have already been expressed like raising the retirement age to 60 and the improvement of geriatric medicine. The problem of the aged will become more urgent over the next five years. Many good suggestions have also been made by the Howe Yoon Chong Report. I think it deserves deeper study and review again. Finally, Mr Speaker, Sir, in the Addendum to the President's Address by the Minister for Trade and Industry there is mention of the EDB setting up an international direct investment programme to facilitate and support Singapore companies to go offshore. I think this is a worthy goal. I also urge the Government to map out a strategy to enable Singapore companies to go trans-national. As our domestic labour supply and total factor productivity become constraints to our growth, the Government should identify those companies with the resources to venture overseas. This should be under- taken as a national strategic economic development effort and not be left to the vagaries of private business alone. Our presence in overseas countries is important in the longer term.”
“Putting "society before self" may mean trading excellence to second place because the search for excellence is very often a trail blazing strive by the few and the initiated. Again the Member for Buona Vista comes to mind. Mr Speaker, Sir, it is very important for us to ensure that various Government policies are in tune and consistent with whatever core values we want to uphold in the National Ideology. For example, while the National Ideology will want to uphold the family as the building block, there are many families with one member, either a father or a mother or a child who has been staying in Singapore for more than a decade and still cannot get permanent residence status. And yet they know of many other professionals and skilled personnel who are allowed to stay easily whose commitment and family ties to Singapore may yet be established. Although many of them could be just ordinary workers without those skills and professional qualifications which enable many others to stay permanently these people are not without their contribution. They have direct family ties in Singapore and nowhere else. Their children, or brothers do national service. I urge the Government to re-examine these policies so that the family unit as a building block of society is given credence. Mr Speaker, Sir, the President's Address makes no direct mention of the problems of the aged in our society. I urge the Government to formulate policies for the aged in three aspects. Firstly, providing more avenues for our elderly to achieve more degree of financial security. The Government or HDB should examine into a reverse mortgage scheme for elderly people who own HDB flats. This suggestion has been made in the Howe Yoon Chong Report before.”
“Many Singaporeans fear that the term "society before self" may imply a definite ordinal social preference everywhere and always by arbiters in the system. When invoked as a moral precept in the National Ideology it can be disturbing to them. Mr Speaker, Sir, I am not suggesting that we are all selfish. The fact is that most likely the State or the bureaucracy will not be in a good position to arbitrate on what is good for itself or for the individual. The Member for Boon Lay gave a long list three days ago regarding various changes in policy decisions over the last few years. This has also been borne out all over the world where command political-economic systems have failed and the free world market economies have proven to be a more efficient system in decision-making and allocation. By pursuing the individual self-interest, the welfare of the nation is raised by the invisible hand. Hence my concern is that perhaps "society before self" may not be exactly what we need to stipulate. What we are concerned about I venture to suggest is a certain community orientation or social harmony in our endeavours which is lacking, partly due to our short immigrant background. This "community orientation" should co-exist side by side or in the back of our mind in our endeavours, while as individuals we pursue our own goals in self-interest. The pursuit of this individual interest as part of our immigrant culture has always been present in the ordinary Singaporean. It has accounted for our dynamism and flexibility. Mr Speaker, Sir, community orientation can co-exist without internal inconsistency with our strive for excellence.”
“I suggest it has to do with applying the value of placing society above self as part of an ideology in the context of overall policies. I am using the words "placing society above self" as quoted in the Presidential Address because I feel in a discussion on the National Ideology the words we use are very important in order not to have different meanings or interpretation. While Members are proud to profess this value in this Chamber, I think it is a different thing when given the status of a National Ideology and invoked as a moral precept in the context of policy and choice. I believe a good section of Singaporeans are disturbed by this. Let me give the illustration which the hon. Member for Buona Vista, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, gave a few days ago. He was on a teaching award from the Ministry of Education and he was forced to do Mathematics more than 25 years ago. He refused and paid back his bond in dollars and went on to do Economics and I thought he did pretty well. Twenty-five years later, he is now in Parliament as a Minister of State. I can imagine not so long ago that we have similar problems where students who qualified to do Medicine, for example, were allocated to do Law at the University. It is problems like this that we face when "society before self" may be invoked as a precept, a moral precept, and individual choice is sacrificed. The disenchanted may not be as strong-willed as the hon. Minister of State and in our context in Singapore today they may feel disenchanted and they may even leave Singapore and settle elsewhere. The Hon. Minister for Trade and Industry stressed two days ago that the National Ideology is to find a balance by emphasizing the obligations to society. Indeed this is reassuring.”
“Other social scientists have their own explanation, not least of which are the appropriate strategic policies which were undertaken in economic development which enabled them to achieve their spectacular success. Singapore has not done that badly with our non-homogeneous plural society background. We are still the second highest per capita income country in Asia after Japan. A good section of our population comprising Malays, Indians, Eurasian and non-Chinese speaking Singaporans need the assurance that the National Ideology should integrate them as Singaporeans and not as Malays, Chinese, or Indians or Eurasians. Mr Speaker, Sir, I note that in the preliminary search for our National Ideology we have been concerned with core values but not with virtues. I suggest that virtues like diligence, duty, pride in one's work, group loyalty, cooperation, maybe even a sense of shame, be worthy of examination. In our search for a National Ideology we cannot divorce ourselves from the specific problems we are facing at this time in our work ethos, in duty, in pride in one's work, in group loyalty. This has been so in the experience of other countries with ideologies. The Taiwanese have their three principles of nationalism, democracy and social well-being which is a throwback to the revolutionary days of China under Sun Yat Sen. The Koreans have their New Community Movement with its principles of diligence, self-help and cooperation. The Japanese have their neo-Confucian culture of group loyalty since the Meiji Revolution when they started to catch up with the West. Mr Speaker, Sir, the four core values mentioned in the President's Address are laudable. Most people would swear by these high ideals. Yet we hear of disquiet in some articulate sectors.”
“These values are likely to exert very strong pulls because of our openness and our modern communication facilities. Hence the values we want in the National Ideology must not be too restrictive or inflexible. Otherwise when applied in the context of overall policies, Singaporeans of all races, age and education, may find it unappealing. Secondly, I feel we must be cautious that by teaching the values in the mother tongues or the mother languages in the schools, we should not unwittingly provoke or evoke communal responses. Up to now the integration of Singaporeans of different ethnic groups, however limited it may be, is conducted through the English medium. Young Singaporeans today should still have to integrate across ethnic and cultural differences in the English mode. Otherwise the outcome may be more communal orientation rather than national orientation which will defeat the purpose of the National Ideology. Thirdly, I feel the National Ideology must give all sections of our people the sense of shared vision of the future we are heading for. This vision has at various times been defined a global City of Excellence with a Swiss standard of living. Are our people in that vision Chinese, Malays and Indians? Or are they Singaporeans with a Singaporean soul? I hope the National Ideology will consider this. In this search for a National Ideology, I suggest we should not be too trammelled by our over-focus on the success stories of the Asian "little dragons", namely, Korea, Taiwan or Hong Kong. Communitarianism is only one aspect of their culture which sociologists can explain for their success.”
“Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise in support of the motion of thanks for the President's Address on the goals and challenges of this Government. For the past 30 years under the People's Action Party the Government has aimed at economic growth and development in order to give the people a better livelihood. For the last few years we have been aiming at a higher quality of life for the people. However, we can see the Government's increasing concern with grappling with the spiritual and cultural dimensions of the nation-building process. Having emphasized growth and development and succeeded beyond doubt, we have now turned full circle and come face to face with the stark reality of a non-homogenous plural society. Many people, among them the more articulate, modern and educated sections of the population, have doubts about the need and the relevance for a National Ideology. They should not be. Just now we heard the Second Deputy Prime Minister mention the reasons why we are tackling the problems of National Ideology now. But I think there are other reasons from a sociological and economic point of view. Herman Kahn, the futurologist in the 1970's, in his study of the world economic development had predicted that as countries enter the post-industrial phase of development there would always be a greater search and need for ideologies for meaningful growth and development. We in Singapore are entering this phase of development now towards the end of the 1980's. However, in our search for a National Ideology we must not lose sight of several considerations. Firstly, we are a modern city-state. The culture and ethos we want to nurture have to counter the modernistic culture and values.”